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Last updated on September 13th, 2023 at 03:52 pm
Have you ever heard the quote: “Clutter is postponed decisions”? I find most problems come from procrastination —from my overgrown rose garden to papers sitting on my desk to laundry mountain. The best way to prevent clutter from piling up (let’s face it, any tasks from piling up) is to take action.
This is easier said than done, right? Preventing clutter from piling up can be easy when you set yourself up for success.
Here are 3 easy ways to prevent clutter from piling up.
01. Declutter daily
The best way to prevent clutter from piling up is to declutter daily. This doesn’t have to take a ton of time. I use about 10 minutes doing a Nightly Reset each evening that includes removing excess items.
I start by identifying any trash I can toss. Next, I look for items that belong somewhere else in the house and put them away. Then, I look for things that will take more time to decide about and set them in a designated place. I have a day set aside for dealing with those items. (It’s described in the Paper Hubs System.)
For most items, however, I decide if we’ll need it, if we’ll use it, or if I can get it digitally.
If you can make daily decluttering a habit, it eventually becomes second nature and you stop noticing you’re doing it!
Here’s a complete list of questions you can use for decluttering (even decluttering daily!).
02. Decide the purpose of the area
Each area of your home should be for a specific purpose. The kitchen island is meant to be for cooking and food-related activities …but have you declared it as so?
Deciding what each area of your home is set aside for, in other words, its purpose, can help you decide what belongs where.
For example, your kitchen is meant for cooking items but you could also designate is as the arts & crafts area. You could also have a “command center” or Actionable Paper Hub there as long as you’ve designated it as such.
But if you don’t want papers in the kitchen, you know they can’t stay there and must go to their specific home.
03. Give everything a home
Every item needs a place to go. If you’ve declared the purpose for each area of your home, this makes finding homes easier.
Decide what would be the most efficient place to put items that obviously belong in that area. Sort items by similarity, keeping them together in one place.
For items that aren’t similar but still belong in that area, use a “catch-all” such as a drawer (like a junk drawer) or a basket.
If you find yourself and your family continuing to put items in an area you designated for something else (i.e. papers on the kitchen island), consider reworking the area to work with your current habits. Can you place a basket on the counter to catch all the papers so it doesn’t look so untidy?
Here’s an entire post on finding homes for everything.
To recap, here are 3 easy ways to prevent clutter from piling up:
- Make decluttering a daily habit
- Designate a purpose for every area of your home
- Give every item a place to go
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